Knitting machine for full fashioned hosiery



Jan. 15, 1957 c. GINEWTON 2,777,309

KNITTING MACHINE FOR FULL FASHIONED HOSIERY Filed Oct. 1, 1953. 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 lTLUE11I.EII" Ehar LEs ELNELLTIEJII ild- Jan. 15, 1957 c. G. NEWTON 2,777,309

KNITTING MACHINE FOR FULL FASHIONED HOSIERY Filed Oct. 1, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Unite States KNITTING MACHINE FOR FULL FASHIONED HOSIERY Charles G. Newton, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, assignor 10f fifty percent to Charles E. -Church, Burlington, ntario, Canada Application'October 1, 1953., Serial No. 383,632

7 Claims. (Cl. 6 6-146) tem 0 In standard practice the yarn tension'ing motion of a full-fashioned knitting machine comprises the combination of mechanically actuated spring jaws known as snappers, and which pull upon and release the yarn in the knitting cycle, and metal weight rings which hang upon the yarn to control its tension.

Until recent years, the combination of the snapper motion and the yarn tensioning weight rings was relax-'- tive-ly sufiicient to produce a satisfactory selvedge, but in present day hosiery manufacture wherein very fine nylon yarn is being used and the operative speed of the machines greatly increased, the old yarn tensioning means is very inadequate in the constant production of good selvedge edges.

In the standard machines the snappers oscillate and in a portion of their swing contact a stationary rod whereby thespring pressures of their jaws are released to remove their grip upon the yarns until the couliering has been completed, during which the yarn tension is applied by the downward pull of the yarn tensioning weight rings in combination with the constant tension of the standard felt strips, tension rods etc. As the yarn is damp and travelling at a high speed over a tortuous course it will be apparent that the weight rings hanging upon the yarn will have a tendency to rapidly jounce under fluctuations of the tautness of the yarn and be ineffective in maintaining the desired yarn tension, whereby undesirable yarn loops are formed at the selvedge edge.

The purpose of the present invention is to overcome the foregoing deficiency by providing a simple auxiliary mechanism which may be incorporated in any standard full-fashioned hosiery knitting machine and which will actuate the yarn gripping jaw of a snapper independently of the snappers position in relation to the standardsnapper opening stationary bar; whereby desired tension. may be applied to the yarn in synchronization with the knitting of the selvedge edge of the stocking blank. To achieve this objective the oscillating motion of the snapper is so timed in relation to the coulier motion that the snapper commences its upward swing when the coulie-ring is approximately at the centre of its travel, the snapper jaw spring being held open by my auxiliary mechanism until the couliering has reached a point approximate to the selvedge, Where the jaw spring is re leased to engage the yarn and keep it taut by the continued 2,777,309 Patented Jan. 15, 1957 ice upward movement of the closed snapper during the remaining portion of the coulier motion and partly through the knocking over motion of the knitting cycle, after which the yarn tension is released by the rapid fall of the snapper and opening of the snapper jaw in its en gagement with the standard stationary snapper opening bar.

In carrying out my invention I provide a bar swing.- able about its longitudinal axis and carried withinbearing brackets mounted upon the .snappercarrying shaft to oscillate therewith; the swinging movement of the bar moving'the snapper jaw springs to control the yarn tensions, the bar being actuated by a suitable solenoid mechanism operable in synchronization with the motion of the knitting machine.

With the foregoing and other objectsin view as shall appear, my invention consists of a selvedge knitting con trol mechanismconstructed and arranged all as herein after-described and illustrated in the accompanying draw, ings in which:

Fig. '1 is a perspective view of a portion of a :full fashioned knitting machine wherein a snapper is shown mounted upon an oscillatable shaft which is actuated :by a cam mechanism, an oscillatable bar being shown POSi-x tioned underneath the snapper spring toconstitute the auxiliary snapper operating mechanism. f

. Fig, 2 is an enlarged side-elevational view of a standard snapper secured upon a standard snapper shaft, my osc-i'llatable bar Carrying bearing bracket being shown mounted on the shaft behind the snapper with its bar positioned underneath the downwardly urged jsnapper spring, the snapper being 'shown at the start or the couliering motion .wherein it is in the lower portion of its oscillation with itsspring pressed open by the standard snapper opening stationary bar.

Fig. 3 is a similar view to Fig.2 andshows the snapper in its upward motion before knitting has reached the selvedge closing point, the snapper spring jaw being held open by the swung auxiliary bar positioned therebeneath. v

Fig. 4 is also a similar view to Fig. 2 and shows the position of the snapper after knitting has passed the selvedge closing point, the auxiliary bar having been swung to a position wherein thesnapper spring jaw is" in engagement with the yarn and' the yarn under snapper tension. 7

Fig. 5 is a reduced plan view showing an assembly of the parts disclosed {in Figs. '2fto 4, the parts being the position shown'in Fig. 4, a solenoid unit being also shown mounted upon the snapper shaft.

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view through the line 66 Fig. 5 to illustrate the solenoid unit, a solenoid control cam mechanism being diagrammatically included in the View. v

Fig. 7 is an enlarged view of the swinging bar and solenoid pole as shown in Fig. 6, and showing the swinging movement of the bar under the attraction of the energized solenoid pole.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged side elcvationai view of the showingthe relationship between the knitting and the re-- ciprocating traverse of the -coulier motion and theyarn" tension applications of a snapper in accordance-with my invention.

' Like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different views of the drawings.

Fig. 1 illustrates a standard snapper shaft 2 which is oscillated by a rotating cam 3 carried upon a driven cam shaft 4; the snapper shaft and cam shaft being mounted within suitable bearings, not shown. A lever 5 is swingably mounted within a bracket 6 and carries a roller 7 riding upon the cam 3. A vertical rod 8 is connected atits lower end to the free end of the lever 5 and at its upper end toan arm 9 secured to the snapper shaft 2. A spiral tension spring 10 extend between the free end of the lever 5 and a machine frame bracket 11 whereby the roller 7 is urged downwardly against the face of the cam 3. It will be understood that rotation of the cam 3 will oscillate the snapper shaft 2 and the snappers mounted thereon.

While in Fig. 1 I have shown one snapper mounted upon the snapper shaft and in Fig. 5 two snappers mounted upon the snapper shaft, it will be obvious that a snapper shaft in a standard machine carries a number of snappers. The snapper illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5 is of the standard type, consisting of a snapper shaft embracing jaw 12 anchored to the shaft by a set screw 13, the jaw carrying two brackets 14 and 15. A snapper jaw spring 16 is secured to the bracket 14 and is set to be normally urged downwardly into contact with the upper face 17 of the outer end of the bracket to bear against the yarn when the snapper is closed.

The outer end of the snapper bracket 15 carries a yarn guide sleeve 18 which projects upwardly from the face 17 of the bracket 15 to enter an orifice 19 in the snapper jaw spring 16 when the jaw spring is in the downward closed position. The ends of the bracket 15 and jaw spring 16 are shown in section in Fig.2 to illustrate the sleeve 18 and orifice 19. A standard stationary bar 20 is positioned within the arc of swing of the outer end of the jaw spring 16 whereby such spring comes into contact with the bar in the downward portion of the oscillation of the snapper to press the snapper jaw spring upwardly and release the tension pressure upon the yarn. My auxiliary mechanism for moving the snapper spring 16 away from the end of the bracket 15 independently of the standard stationary bar 20 consists of a steel flat bar 21 swingable about its longitudinal axis and positioned underneath the snapper jaw spring 16 adjacent to the bracket 14 upon which the jaw spring is mounted. A plurality of 8-shaped bearing brackets 22 are secured in alignment upon the snapper shaft 2, as by set screws 23, and in their upper ring portions 24 carry ball race sleeves 25 within which the fiat bar 21 is diametrically positioned.

When the snapper jaw spring 16 is closed the flat bar 21 is at rest and lies substantially parallel to the bottom face of the spring. To swing. the bar 21 to open the snappers a solenoid unit 26 is secured upon the snapper shaft 2 to oscillate therewith, its magnetic pole 27 being positioned to one side ofthe upper face of the bar, as illustrated in Figs. 6' and 7. The energization of the solenoid attracts the bar to swing it from the position shown in full lines in Fig. 7 to the position shown in dotted lines wherein it presses against the snapper spring jaws 16 to swing them out of tensioning contact with the yarns 28 which are threaded through eyes 29 in the snapper brackets 14 and through the sleeves 18 in the snapper brackets 15.

To retain the flat bar 21 in its neutral position, shown in Figs. 2 and 4, when the solenoid is not energized any type of spring retaining element may be used, such as a flat leaf spring 30 suitably mounted upon the bracket 31 supporting the standard stationary bar 20, as shown in Fig. 5.

The energization and de-energization of the solenoid is controlled by any suitable switch mechanisms actuated in synchronization with the knitting cycle. In Fig. 6 one of such switch mechanisms is diametrically shown, wherein a switch 32 is mounted upon a rod 33which is attached to the carrier rack (not shown) and slides toand-fro in conjunction with the movement of the yarn carrier stops (not shown) controlling the position of the selvedge during the knitting of the stocking blank.

The switch operating plunger 34, having a roller 35, rides on a cam plate 36 which reciprocates with the couliering motion of the machine and has a constant travel. It will thus be understood that the switch operating plunger is actuated by the synchronized combination of movements of the sliding carrier rack rod 33 and the reciprocating cam plate 36. It will be further understood that the solenoid actuation will be governed by two of such cam and switch arrangements, each arrangement separately controlling the action of the solenoid with the resultant actuation of the snapper jaws at the right and left selvedge of the stocking blank.

In Fig. 9 an alternative snapper arrangement is shown wherein the snapper jaw spring 37 is set to move away from the snapper bracket 15 under its tension, and the snapper bar 21 is positioned above the spring jaw whereby swinging movement of the bar presses thespring jaw downwardly into engagement with the outer end of the snapper bracket 15, as illustrated in dotted lines. When the snapper swings downwardly into the position wherein the outer end of its jaw spring 37 engages the standard stationary bar 20 to be pressed upwardly, such upward pressure against the spring jaw bends it about the flat bar as shown in the arrangement illustrated in Fig. 2.

In applying my invention to a standard full-fashioned hosiery knitting machine, I rearrange the timing of the swinging motion of the snappers by removing the standard rotatable cam which oscillates the cam shaft 2 to substitute my cam 3 therefor. Referring to Fig. 8, the cam rotates in a clockwise direction and the cycle of snapper operation, also embodying the movement of my snapper spring jaw actuating bar 21, is as follows:

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that in referring to the coulier motion of a knitting machine I am speaking of that part of the cycle of the knitting operation wherein the yarn is laid across the sinkers and forced between the needles to form the loops in preparation for the knitted stitch. It will be seen in Fig. 8

that the portion of the cam face from A to B is concentric and that the portion of the cam face from B to C has a gradual rise to the point C where there is a rapid drop in the cam face back to the point A. The timing of the cam is so arranged that it is substantially in the position illustrated when the coulier motion is approximately at the centre portion of its travel, and wherein the rotation of the cam from the point B to the point C will cause snappers to rise from the position shown in Fig. 2 to the position shown in Fig. 4.

At the start of the coulier motion the cam roller 7 is resting upon the cam 3 in the vicinity of its point A whereby the lever 5 and snapper shaft arm 9 are in their upwardly swung positions and the snappers in their downwardly swung positions as shown in Fig. 2, their snapper spring jaws 16 being held open by the bar 20. As the snappers swing upwardly under the action of the rise in the cam from the point B to the point C they clear the bar 20 but continue to have their spring jaws held open by my flat bar 21 which has been swung to bear against the spring jaws to hold them open.

The jaws are held open until the knitting is within several needles of the selvedge closing point, or in certain circumstances substantially at the closing point, and at which time the flat bar 21 snaps back to its neutral position to permit the snapper jaws to close, and the snappers to exert a yarn tension during the remaining portion of their upward movement. It will thus be appreciated that in keeping the yarn taut during the remaining portion of coulier motion after the selvedge has been passed, that the possibility of forming selvedge loops through slackness of the yarn is obviated. The cam and its motion is so designed that the tension remains upon the yarn through the latter portion of the coulier motion and partly through the knocking over motion of the knitting cycle, after which the yarn tension is immediately released when the cam roller 7 reaches the point C on the cam to drop on the cam face to the point A to recommence the cycle.

It Will be appreciated that where conditions make it necessary, the contour of the cam 3 may be altered to arrest the upward movement of the snapper at a point during the knocking over motion, where tension is undesirable. The knocking over motion being that part of the knitting cycle during which the newly couliered yarn loops are drawn through the fully formed stitches.

Fig. 10 diagrammatically shows the relationship between coulier motion traverse DD and the knitting traverse KK in a narrower section of the stocking blank, and in which the purpose of my invention is to keep the yarn taut during the portions KD of the coulier motion travel.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a yarn tautening snapper mechanism for fullfashioncd hosiery knitting machines, the combination with an oscillatable snapper through which knitting yarn passes to be engaged by a spring snapper jaw and means for oscillating the snapper and actuating the jaw, of a second jaw actuating means movable in synchronization with the movement of the snapper and actuated by the knitting machine.

2. A snapper jaw actuating means as defined in claim 1, wherein a swingable element extends across the face of the snapper jaw to constitute the jaw actuating means.

3. In a yarn tautening snapper mechanism for fullfashioned hosiery knitting machines, the combination with an oscillatable snapper mounted upon an oscillatable snappershaft and through which the knitting yarn passes to be engaged by a spring snapper jaw and means for oscillating the snapper and actuating the jaw, of a second jaw actuating means mounted upon the snapper shaft to oscillate therewith and actuated by the knitting machine.

4. A snapper jaw actuating means as defined in claim 3, wherein a swingable element extends across the face of the snapper jaw to constitute the jaw actuating means.

5. A snapper jaw actuating means as defined in claim 3, wherein a swingable bar extends across the face of the snapper jaw to constitute the jaw actuating means, and a bearing bracket mounted upon the snapper shaft and upon which the bar is swingably supported.

6. In a full-fashioned hosiery knitting machine, the combination with a yarn tensioning swingable snapper having a yarn engaging spring jaw and a stationary snapper jaw opening element with which the snapper jaw makes contact in the snappers swing, of a second means for actuating the snapper jaw independently of the stationary snapper jaw opening element.

7. In a full-fashioned hosiery knitting machine, the combination with a yarn tensioning oscillatable snapper mounted upon an oscillatable snapper shaft and having a yarn engaging jaw and a stationary snapper jaw opening element with which the snapper jaw makes contact in the snappers oscillation, of a second means supported by the oscillatable snapper shaft for actuating the snapper jaw independently of the stationary snapper jaw opening element. 

